The cold pressor test is used to predict cardiovascular events in atherosclerotic diseases, but its underlying physiological mechanisms and effects on carotid artery reactivity remain poorly understood.
Can the cold pressor test predict future cardiovascular events in patients with CAD and other atherosclerotic diseases?
This review highlights the potential clinical utility of the cold pressor test for predicting cardiovascular events, while noting significant gaps in understanding its underlying physiological mechanisms.
INTRODUCTION: The cold pressor test (CPT) is a common and extensively validated test, which induces systemic stress involving immersion of an individual's hand in ice water (normally temperature between 0 and 5 degrees Celsius) for a period of time. CPT has been used in various fields, like examining effects of stress on memory, decision-making, pain and cardiovascular health. Areas covered: In terms of cardiovascular health, current research is mainly interested in predicting the occurrence of cardiovascular (CV) events. The objective of this review is to give an overview of the history and methodology of the CPT, and clinical utility in possibly predicting CV events in CAD and other atherosclerotic diseases. Secondly, we will discuss possible future applications of the CPT in clinical care. Expert opinion: An important issue to address is the fact that the physiology of the CPT is not fully understood at this moment. As pointed out multiple mechanisms might be responsible for contributing to either coronary vasodilatation or coronary vasoconstriction. Regarding the physiological mechanism of the CPT and its effect on the measurements of the carotid artery reactivity even less is known.
Pouwels et al. (Wed,) conducted a review in CAD and other atherosclerotic diseases. Cold pressor test (CPT) was evaluated on Prediction of cardiovascular events. The cold pressor test is used to predict cardiovascular events in atherosclerotic diseases, but its underlying physiological mechanisms and effects on carotid artery reactivity remain poorly understood.
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